Edgefield County, SC
Total population (1850): 39,262
Enslaved population (1850): 22,725
Percent slave: 58%
Extant nineteenth-century inquests: 524
Date range: 1829-1899
Percentage of violent crimes in county sample: 39% (202/524)
The small, rural district of Edgefield, South Carolina was the Deadwood of its day, amassing a reputation for murder and mayhem unique in the nation. Forget the gangs of New York, the toughs in tailored suits strutting about Edgefield's Court House Square were up for almost anything. Take this typical exchange between Thomas Cherry and Charles Cobb.
Cherry: "You Damn puppy."
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "Do you mean to call me a Damn puppy?"
Cobb: "What are you?"
Cherry: "If you call me a Puppy, I will ag you in the face."
Cobb: "You are nothing else."
With that Cherry stabbed Cobb through the face with an umbrella.
"If we over in Edgefield insult each other, there is generally a fight or a funeral afterwards," noted Ben Tillman, one of the ten men of the district to serve the state as governor. Like Tillman, circuit judge Thomas Mackey took an almost perverse pride in the region's reputation. "I am going to hold court in Edgefield," he told a friend, "and I expect a somewhat exciting term, as the fall shooting is about to start."
Like most reputations, Edgefield's was at once deserved and exaggerated. At 39 percent, Edgefield County does have the highest proportion of violent crimes in the CSI:D sample. At 35 percent, Greenville County is not that far behind. More important, Edgefield's reputation for affairs of honor masks the mountain of dishonorable violence revealed by the morgue. Men spoiling for a fight on the street are rarely much different at home. In June 1893, Bill Gasten was sitting near his wood pile when his wife emerged from the house to draw some water from the well. Something she said set him off and he grabbed up a walking stick, hit her with it, then threw her down and began choking her. Emerging from the kitchen, her sister grabbed up the stick and told Bill to "let his wife alone." She had just started back to the kitchen when Bill cracked her head with a hoe.
Edgefield County, SC Inquests
Name | Deceased Description | Date | Inquest Location | Death Type | Death Method |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sarah Lucas | October 30, 1890 | at Mr. M L Holson | Accident | ||
Stepney | negro man | September 29, 1848 | at the Swamp Platation of Wiley Glover, decd on Savannah River | Suicide | |
Henry Jennings | September 14, 1891 | at the residense of diceased | Natural Causes | ||
Julia Mundy | June 17, 1881 | at Jas H Banknight | Homicide | ||
Jacob Horn | February 25, 1866 | at the hous of Jacob Horns | Homicide | ||
Thomas Welheu[?] | June 19, 1868 | at Benjamin Better[?] wheat field on the Columbia & Augusta Rail Road | Accident | ||
Solomon | negro man | June 24, 1844 | near the Mill of George A. McKee on Stevens Creek | Accident | |
J. E. Black | May 8, 1861 | at the Residence of J. E. Black | Other | ||
Cesar | Negro, negro boy | July 7, 1843 | at the house of Elijah Watson | Homicide | |
Luther Sullivan | October 26, 1898 | near John Stuarts | Homicide | ||
Lizzie Darian | child | November 21, 1894 | at Waldo Richardsons | Accident | |
Tom | negro man Slave | August 21, 1850 | at H. L. Maysons in Beach island | Accident | |
Rebeca Eidson | May 29, 1861 | at the Residence of William Eidson | Natural Causes | ||
Elijah Flour[?] | youth | July 24, 1849 | at the hous of Mrs Salley Spradley | Accident | |
Albert Jones | April 29, 1885 | at Pickens Reynolds house | Homicide | ||
John McManas | December 4, 1883 | at the Jail | Accident | ||
Joel Etheridge | November 29, 1893 | at Joel Etheridge Residence | Unknown | ||
Thomas | child of Thomas M Chandler | September 11, 1850 | at Thos M. Chandler's house, and at the old Pottery | Accident | |
Ora Weaver | February 21, 1891 | at the plantation of D B. H Holfarth[illegible - ink blot] | Accident | ||
Bettie Willis | March 24, 1892 | at the Croker place the home of Miss Bettie Willis | Natural Causes | ||
Jesse Limbecker | June 18, 1869 | at Hamburg | Accident | ||
James Perry | December 27, 1894 | at Mt Enon Church | Accident | ||
Kisiah Frazier | December 17, 1893 | at the plantation of T S Rainsforde | Natural Causes | ||
Jesse Moragna[?] | March 3, 1882 | at Luke Moragines[?] House | Accident | ||
David West | boy | January 30, 1862 | at Graniteville | Accident | |
Lucious Perry | November 8, 1891 | at the plantation of Ben Boatwright | Homicide | ||
Sallie Holmes | December 20, 1893 | at D. P. Bodies[?] | Accident | ||
Mingo Mosley | January 13, 1883 | at Samuel[?] Corley's | Accident | ||
Fannie Patton | November 18, 1898 | at Francis Williams house | Accident | ||
Patrick Burns[?] | November 4, 1858 | at the residence of Richard Campbell | Natural Causes | ||
Joshua | negro man slave | June 26, 1860 | at Harmon Gallman | Unknown | |
Willis Cumings | child | October 10, 1890 | at C. M. Lanhams | Accident | |
Reubin Weaver | December 28, 1895 | at Elijah Boatwrights Plantation | Natural Causes | ||
Lila Washington | February 20, 1879 | at Wesley Barns Mill | Accident | ||
Sam | slave, boy | October 10, 1857 | at the Carolina Hotel, Edgefield C.H. | Unknown | |
James Thomas | colored | July 20, 1869 | at Liberty Hill County | Homicide | |
Mary Harrison | September 10, 1894 | at Dornville | Accident | ||
Edward | slave, boy | October 22, 1857 | at the residence of Wm Miller | Natural Causes | |
Doublin | male slave, boy | April 5, 1857 | at the Residence of Mrs Delila Philips | Natural Causes | |
Lidia Watson | January 26, 1894 | at J E Macks | Accident | ||
Infant | Infant | December 18, 1894 | at the Rinheart Grave yard | Unknown | |
Selena Allen | child, boy, baby | December 12, 1890 | at Mrs Blacks[?] Plantation | Accident | |
Ben Shubrick | col | December 24, 1869 | at Negro heade Lane | Natural Causes | |
Charly Washington | boy | November 22, 1891 | at the house of George Washington near Bauknights ferry | Accident | |
Richard J. Barton | December 28, 1866 | at Mrs Lucinda Bartons | Accident | ||
infant child | infant child | November 23, 1891 | at the plantation of Willis Owdom[?] | Accident | |
Samuel Harrison | February 18, 1881 | at [inelligible - faded] | Accident | ||
Pompy Robinson | November 1, 1898 | at Norris Place | Natural Causes | ||
Chaney | negro woman | December 11, 1855 | at the dwelling house of Mrs Randall in the Town of Hamburg | Natural Causes | |
Bartly | negro man | January 16, 1846 | in the woods near the plantation of Dr Wm M Bent | Unknown |